


Puella Magi Ibuki Magica

by Pepperpandia



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 12:00:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5665342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pepperpandia/pseuds/Pepperpandia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was a thing I was working on, off and on for a few years, before I let it go and used a lot of its ideas for something better. Since today is the fifth anniversary of Madoka's release, I decided to post it here as my first fanfic on the site! I hope you like it. I don't think I'll finish it but maybe something will come out of it!</p><p>Thank you for reading and welcoming me to the site!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puella Magi Ibuki Magica

_I saw a billion glittering gems, every one precious and irreplacable._  
_I watched silently as they dropped from the sky, as they plunged into a turbulent river. The waves were black snakes shooting their venom into the foam and spray._  
_And… I could never tell this to you, but you were there, floating above the water, armed only with your outsretched fingers, desparately reaching to the falling gems, collecting them like a worried mother._  
_You couldn’t save them all. Not even you could do something so impossible. But you tried all the same. What you couldn’t catch, you would dive for, even as the water wore away your soul with each plunge._  
_I could do nothing. I was too afraid. I thought I would hurt myself… and I was more afraid that I would hurt you as well._  
_And even though you yelled, screamed, cried at me to do something, I froze. I broke my promise._  
  


    “Ibuki, it’s a dream! They happen to everyone, and a lot of times they don’t make any sense. It’s just you trying to turn random images into a narrative. You worry too much.”  
    Ibuki sat trembling at her desk, not reassured by Ichiko’s kind smile and firm words. She hadn’t managed to tell Ichiko anything about her nightmare, other than it had happened. How could she hope to explain it when she didn’t understand it herself? Ibuki should just take Ichiko’s advide and get over it. What were the chances she’d even remember such a weird dream by the end of the week?  
    “Hey, I need to head to the student council meeting.” Ichiko was already gathering her belongings. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”  
    “Okay…”  
    Ichiko stopped and grabbed her phone. “Okay, that’s not good enough for you. Show me your planner! Do you have anything scheduled for next Saturday? I’m free that night.”  
    Ibuki stammered something inaudible as she fumbled around in her bag for her planner. She pulled out a few odds and ends before finding the notebook she made herself a few months ago. Flipping through the pages, she thumbed the current week and checked for Saturday night.  
    “Ah, I don’t have anything planned… Did you have something in mind?”  
    “No, no, I want you to pick! Call me once you decide what to do. I’m up for anything.”  
    “Oh…! Thank you, Ichi—”  
    “Sorry, gotta go, I’m running late! See you tomorrow!” And with that Ichiko ran out of the classroom, meeting up with a few girls looking a bit disgruntled.  
  
    The rain in Shisengawa was always gentle, but Ibuki hid under an umbrella all the same. She still couldn’t get that dream out of her head. She tried to put a sound to the images but could only imagine silence, as if those noises were sealed away in a box. She was still certain it all meant something.  
    She pushed aside those frustrations and tried filling her head with the chatter of her classmates walking alongside her to their homes. The giggles of high school girls, the chirps and cries of birds and squirrels, the soft buzz of spring’s insects… Oh! She needed to figure out where to meet Ichiko! Saturday was only two days away. She forbade herself from thinking about her dream until she had at least worked out how this date would go.  
  
    “Boo!”  
    Ibuki leapt out of the bench as a gaggle of girls laughed behind her. She turned around to Ichiko’s grinning face and outstretched hands ready to pinch Ibuki’s neck again.  
    It was Ibuki’s fault for assuming Ichiko meant only the two of them would meet up. Of course Ichiko would bring her friends! Most of them were from the student council, though Ibuki couldn’t name any of them. She put on her best smile and carefully put the food she made back into her bag.  
    “Come on, Ibuki, don’t be shy! Have you been waiting for us long?”  
    “No, no, not too long.” Only about an hour.  
    “We’re going to watch a movie first. Sound good?”  
    “Yeah, sounds good.”  
    But before they moved on, Ichiko grabbed Ibuki’s arm and pulled her close, whispering into her ear:  
    “We need to go on a hunt tonight after everyone’s gone.”  
    “Tonight?” Ibuki froze up, nervous.  
    “Yeah, I’ve heard some rumors about something weird going on around here. We need to check it out. Had you?”  
    “No…”  
    “Well you still picked a good place to a date.” Ichiko let Ibuki go and turned to the crowd. “To the movies! Let’s go, ladies.”  
  
    “I knew it.”  
    They could both smell and taste it the moment they kicked down the door. Something lurked in the storage room, foul and despondent. Ibuki clutched her Soul Gem as Ichiko stepped forward, towards the cursed magic that had taken root here.  
    “We haven’t fought a witch together in some time, have we?”  
Ibuki shook her head. “It’s been seven months since the last time.”  
    “Have you been keeping up with it? I try to hunt one down at least once a week.”  
    “I’ve been doing fine… My Soul Gem is clear.”  
    “Good. By the way, are you still wondering about that dream you had?”  
Ibuki looked down at her feet. “I am.”  
    “Let it go, Ibuki. You know how dangerous it is for us to dwell on pain. Fear   and anger are far more dangerous than any witch.”  
    “I’ll try.”  
    “Take a deep breath. Think of that time we took that bath toget-“  
    “Ichiko! T-that was when we were kids!”  
    The older girl laughed at her friend’s discomfort. “Keep thinking about that!  If you’re embarrassed, you can’t be scared! Now, are you ready?”     
    The two stood before the entrance to the witch’s labyrinth. To anyone else, it would appear as a large water stain, moldy and fetid. Yet even to those who weren’t Puella Magi, the labyrinth could still pull the unwary inside, from which they would have no hope of escape.  
    “I’m ready…”  
    With a flourish Ibuki and Ichiko’s clothes fluttered and blossomed into intense, ornate dresses, Ichiko’s red, Ibuki’s blue. Without waiting for Ibuki, Ichiko jumped straight into the open labyrinth. Ibuki followed close behind, too busy keeping up to hesitate.  
    The two magical girls landed with a splash. Warm waves of sea water undulated around them, soaking up to their waists. The two stood in a flooded street of what could have once been some large metropolis, but had been long abandoned. Skyscrapers were covered in vines and unrecognizable trees, the skyline stretching beyond the horizon. More water fell from cracks in the buildings like ornate and grotesque fountains. Only the splash of the waves against worn stone and chipped glass could be heard. Not even the wind cared to make a sound.  
    “I think this is the most pleasant barrier I’ve been in!” Ichiko laughed and trudged forward through the deluge. “Keep your eyes open! I’m expecting something to come up out of one of these buildings.”  
    “…How can you be so calm?”  
    Ichiko paused. “Calm? I don’t think I’m calm… I just know how to not let things get the better of me. Are you afraid?”  
    “Always.”  
    “Don’t be. You’ve done this dozens of times before, with me and on your own. You know what you’re doing.”  
    Ibuki kept quiet.  
    “You don’t like getting wet, don’t you?”  
    “N-not really. Not with clothes like these…”  
    “Don’t worry too much, Ibuki. These uniforms get cleaned easily. Although I do wonder why we get dresses and not combat fatigues. Hey, there’s something else to think about: Why were we given these clothes and not any other? Maybe you can come up with the answer before we finish off the wi— Watch out!”  
    A school of gigantic fish soared through the air, skimming the salt water and bounding against the sides of the skyscrapers. Ibuki and Ichiko both jumped backwards, summoning weapons to hand: Ichiko’s spinning blades, Ibuki’s ornate halberd. The fish paid them no mind, their tails creaking as they shot forward, off to do something or other at their mistress’s behest.  
    “Phew, how lucky…” Ichiko said.  
    Ibuki nodded. “Let’s keep going before they come back and try to eat us…”  
  
    The two plodded along the endless intersections. Everything looked the same to them, and they had no idea how long they had been searching for the witch’s lair. More swarms of the fish would appear without warning, but for the moment they left the girls alone as they swam from street to street.  
    “Ibuki, do you have any ideas? There must be something we’re missing.”  
    Witches would want to lure those they wished to destroy to them, so even in a confusing maze like this, there would have to be some way to end up at the witch. But here, where the witch seemed content to hide away… Maybe the witch wanted victims to find despair from being lost and alone, until they died of thirst.  
    As reluctant as Ibuki was to follow through with her intuition, she laid herself upon the waves, letting her body float. She kept motionless and quiet, as dead as possible.  
    “Uh, Ibuki? I’m not sure what you- Not again…”  
    The flying fish had returned, this time crying out with some guttural belch. But they did not leave the two alone. They descended on the still Ibuki, grabbing her limbs with their gummy lips and flying off with her in tow!  
    “W-what? Ibuki! Give her back!”  
    Ichiko’s blades spun through the air, bisecting some of the familiars! Yet dozens more of the things had responded to the cry, and Ichiko found no way to break Ibuki free of her captors.  
    She sprinted after the fish, bounding along the water, slaying those that came near her. Not convinced she could keep up, she grabbed on to one and rode it along with the others.  
  
    The fish carried Ibuki down narrow alleyways, squeezed together like sardines but still speeding off without losing their momentum. Soon, Ibuki saw where they were leading her: A gigantic clamshell nestled within the many skyscrapers, pink and peeling as if sunburns, and shut tight. Ichiko caught sight of it as well, and leapt from familiar to familiar, trying desperately to reach her friend.  
    “Ibuki! Hurry up and get out of there!”  
    The younger girl focused and imagined the sharp spears of her halberds piercing the fish that held her. The second she saw that image in her mind, it became reality, dozens of the long shafts bursting from her body and into the familiars. They lost their grip and she tumbled back into the water, slamming against the clamped shell.  
    “Oof… I’m-I’m okay…!”  
    The fish were even more riled up than before, and lunged towards Ibuki. She thrust back, taking out anything that dared come close to her. With each strike the familiars coated the girl in an unnatural gray ichor. Meanwhile Ichiko was nearly able to reach the clam, carving her way through the mass of fish in front of her. She had almost made it when the fish all flipped around, swimming furiously in the opposite direction. The familiars carried Ichiko back the way she came, and she realized why as she heard the sound of something horrible.  
    “I-Ibuki! It’s opening up! Get away!”  
    Ibuki turned around and saw the shell split, water rushing down into its maw. Before she could leap away, the force of the water caught her legs, and dragged her in! A churning whirlpool spun her around, and the last thing she saw before the shell closed on her was the tiny frame of Ichiko being carried away.  
  
    Ibuki expelled a glob of water from her throat as she coughed into consciousness. She found herself floating upon salt water, this time far too deep to stand up in. Ibuki treaded water as she regained her senses.  
    “I-Ichiko? Can you hear me?” Ichiko was likely still stuck outside the clam, if she was anywhere.  
    Above Ibuki was only the dark, but in the distance a beacon of soft lights reflected off the water, illuminating uncountable small islands. Ibuki swam to the nearest and pulled herself onto dry land.  
    Ibuki knew she couldn’t relax, as the witch had to be somewhere in here. She guessed that it was hiding by those far-off lights… which were getting closer? Something mechanical groaned beneath the water as the lights traveled towards the exhausted magical girl. The lights were speeding up… and it was in that moment that Ibuki realized that the witch was not merely hiding within those lights.  
    A majestic fish, larger than any creature Ibuki had ever imagined, rushed towards the island!  The thing was haphazardly composed of rusted metal and failed power stations, its dorsal fin replaced with a model of a ruined city! It screamed as it jumped out of the water and came down upon the island Ibuki was on! Ibuki quickly jumped away from the witch’s mouth, and took the hook of her halberd and snagged one of the metal scales of its hide!  
    “Nnggh..” Ibuki held on tight as the witch swallowed the island with a single bite. She had no idea what to do next, but her best guess was to try and climb up the thrashing, creaking, thundering monstrosity and try to get into that city. Carefully she hooked another scale and pulled herself up onto the pole of her halberd. One by one she slowly managed to get on its back, but kept digging into its rusted hide so as not to fall off.  
    The strange city was filled with pipes and rot, and dim lights mixed together to become blinding. “I don’t quite understand what you have against cities,” spoke Ibuki with a touch of righteous anger, “but I was given a duty to protect mine and all the people in it! So, I can’t allow you to continue cursing this land!”  
    The magical girl mustered up as much power as she could, reaching deep into her soul and recalling the wish she had made. It was the thing that gave her hope, a wish for the health and safety of her best friend. She took that hope and turned it into a smiting blow, imbuing her axes with power and swinging them into the mockery of a city she stood within. The mortar and cement crumbled, releasing noxious fumes into the bleak air! Ibuki crumpled to the ground, unable to breathe, tears welling up in her eyes. She had gotten too cocky again, hadn’t she? Pushing herself farther than she was allowed to go…  
    “I-Ichiko… Help me…”  
    Ibuki used the last of her strength to keep from falling off the witch’s back.  As weak as she was, she knew falling in the water would mean death. All she could do was hold on and hope…  
    She felt a firm hand grip her shoulder and pull her upwards, then a kiss of fresh air. Light was leaking in from above, a large crack in the clamshell. Ichiko had saved her.  
    “Hey! Next time you tell me the plan before you put it into action!” Ichiko broke away from the kiss, her face full of frustration. Some of her blades spun in circles around each other, making fans to blow the sullied air away. “Now, no apologizing, we need to kill the witch.”  
    “O-okay… I have no idea how, though. It’s so big and I don’t see a weak spot…”  
    “Then we’ll just have to try brute force until it gives in!” Ichiko threw a dozen blades into the undersides of the scales, pulling them up and tearing them away from the body. Inside they saw only masses of wires and discarded trash. “It’s something! Have you ever cleaned a fish before, Ibuki?”  
    “N-no… That’s a bit too gross for me.”  
    “You’ll get over it. First, you slice off the fins! Then you cut away all the scales! Then you cut its belly open and rip out the insides!”  
    “Sounds violent…”  
    “And delicious. You take the left fin, and I’ll get the right!”  
    Ichiko bounded away and hacked off the iron fin with a single delicate slice. Meanwhile Ibuki tore chunks of metal from her target with her hooks, trying to expose whatever passed for bone in this witch.  
    “Alright! Let’s rip it apart!”  
    The older girl stood delicately upon the tail, summoning a few of her blades and willing them to shred the witch’s skin to bits. All sorts of junk fell from her scales, floating away in the thrashed water. The witch cried out in a guttural, horrified anger.  
    “Ibuki, make this thing turn around! I need to get access to its backside!”  
“…How do I do that?!”  
    “Hit it really hard in the right place!”  
    Ibuki focused and put some force into the butt of her halberd, and then delivered a sound blow right under where the dorsal fin would be. The force was enough to disorient the witch and force her to her side. Ibuki struck once more, flipping it over. Once Ichiko saw the exposed bottom she crafted a large spinning blade and slashed the witch from tail to gill.  
    With a single final cry mounds of dirt and sand burst from the witch’s innards, spilling into the sea and turning into thick, pungent mud. The clamshell collapsed, the cityscape caught fire, and before the two realized it they were back in the normal world, still soaking wet.  
    Ibuki quickly returned to her dry clothes, but before she could say anything Ichiko grabbed her and gave her a second kiss. Ibuki blushed and returned the kiss, carefully holding the still-wet Ichiko to her.  
  
    “Don’t forget the Grief Seed…”  
    “I think you need it more than me today, Ibuki.” Ichiko plucked the small black seed off the damp ground, and held it to her friend.  
    “We can share it…”  
    “True. Hold out your Soul Gem.”  
    Ibuki and Ichiko held their gems out towards the seed. Both had grown noticeably darker after the battle. Ichiko held the witch’s essence between the two of them, and watched as the bleakness gathered in small clumps and was tugged from their gems and into the seed.  
    “There. I feel much better.”  
    “Me too…”  
    Before Ibuki could put her gem away she felt it clink against Ichiko’s. She blushed and stuffed it into her pocket. “W-well… Thank you for letting me help you, Ichiko!”  
  
  
    Ichiko and Ibuki rested upon a small bench flanked by fir trees and pitcher plants. It was well after midnight, and only a few far-away lamps illuminated the two.  
    “I don’t want to think about what my parents will say when I get home.”  
    “Don’t say anything, sneak into your bedroom from the window and then say you had been there all along!”  
    “They’d never buy that…”  
    “Then tell them that you’re a magical girl, and were fulfilling your duty to help protect humanity from thei-“  
    “Excuse me! You two Puellae!”  
    That last word caught the friends by surprise. Weren’t they the only two around here? A tall girl, one that looked just barely an adult, ran towards them. Even in the dark her face beamed with excitement.  
    “Ha, how are you two doing? I’m glad we could meet up!”  
    Ichiko spoke up first. “Sorry, who are you?”  
    “She’s an acquaintance of mine,” said another voice, this one familiar to the girls.  
    “Oh hello, Jukabey.”  
    The lazy fox reclined in the bough of a cedar, his many tails swaying in the soft wind. “Sorry it’s been so long since we last met, but there are other parts of the world and other magical girls I must get to know. Speaking of which, please meet Miss Hotaru Minori, one of my prized Puellae.”  
The one who had greeted the girls so exuberantly bowed with all her strength. “Pleasure to meet the two of you! As mentioned, my name’s Hotaru Minori, you can call me Minori if you want!”  
    “Thank you, Minori. My name is Naoki Ichiko, and my friend is Haruka Ibuki. Are you a new Puella Magi?”  
    Ibuki kept quiet.  
    “Actually, I’ve been one for a few years! I am a new arrival to Shisengawa, though. Jukabey invited me here since he thought you two could use the help! I’m not so sure, though. I saw your fight with that witch just a bit ago, you two are pretty strong! I might have joined in when I saw little Ibuki in trouble, but you pulled through! Plus it was worth it to see that kiss.”  
    “Hey, you shouldn’t watch us like that!” said Ichiko, while Ibuki shrank behind her.  
    Minori ignored the protest. ” I expect that a certain magical fox has a proposition for you two. Personally, I recommend you take it!”  
    “Indeed I do,” chimed Jukabey, leaping down from his branch and standing tall before Ichiko and Ibuki. “Would the two of you consider making a second wish?”

 


End file.
